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Home Depot probes possible hack, could be larger than Target breach

By Anne D'InnocenzioThe Associated Press

Posted:
09/02/2014 04:33:53 PM MDT

Updated:
09/03/2014 08:25:39 AM MDT

Home Depot, the Atlanta-based home-improvement retailer, told The Associated Press that it is working with banks and law enforcement to investigate "unusual activity" that would point to a hack. (Joe Raedle, Getty Images file)

NEW YORK — Home Depot may be the latest retailer to suffer a major credit card data breach.

The Atlanta-based home-improvement retailer on Tuesday told The Associated Press that it is working with banks and law enforcement to investigate "unusual activity" that would point to a hack.

"Protecting our customers' information is something we take extremely seriously, and we are aggressively gathering facts at this point while working to protect customers," Home Depot spokeswoman Paula Drake said, declining to elaborate. She said the retailer would notify customers immediately if it confirms a breach.

Hackers have broken security walls for many retailers in recent months, including Target, grocery store chain Supervalu, P.F. Chang's and the thrift-store operations of Goodwill. The rash of breaches has rattled shoppers' confidence in the security of their personal data and pushed retailers, banks and card companies to increase security by speeding the adoption of microchips into U.S. credit and debit cards.

Supports say chip cards are safer, because unlike magnetic strip cards that transfer a credit card number when they are swiped at a point-of-sale terminal, chip cards use a one-time code that moves between the chip and the retailer's register. The result is a transfer of data that is useless to anyone except the parties involved. Chip cards also are nearly impossible to copy, experts say.

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The possible data breach at Home Depot was first reported by Brian Krebs of Krebs on Security, a website that focuses on cybersecurity. Krebs said multiple banks reported "evidence that Home Depot stores may be the source of a massive new batch of stolen credit and debit cards" that went on sale on the black market Tuesday.

Krebs reported that it's not clear how many stores were affected, but preliminary analysis indicates the breach may have affected all 2,200 Home Depot stores in the U.S. Several banks that were contacted said they believe the breach may have started in late April or early May.

"If that is accurate — and if even a majority of Home Depot stores were compromised — this breach could be many times larger than Target, which had 40 million credit and debit cards stolen over a three-week period," said the Krebs post.

Krebs said that the party responsible for the breach may be the same group of Russian and Ukrainian hackers suspected in the Target breach late last year. Krebs also broke the news of Target's breach.

Target Corp., based in Minneapolis, is still trying to get beyond its massive breach that occurred late last year and hurt sales, profits and its reputation with customers. It has been overhauling its security department and systems and is accelerating its $100 million plan to roll out chip-based credit card technology in all of its nearly 1,800 stores.

New payment terminals will appear in stores by this month, six months ahead of schedule. In April, the retailer announced it teamed up with MasterCard to issue branded Target payment cards equipped with chip technology by early in 2015.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, also is sending customers who have a store credit card a chip-enabled MasterCard, while its Sam's Club division introduced a chip-enabled MasterCard in June.

The company has chip-enabled checkout terminals in 4,600 stores, and terminals in the remaining U.S stores will be activated before the end of the year.

How bad was possible breach?: It's not clear, but preliminary analysis indicates the breach may have affected all 2,200 Home Depot stores in the U.S.

Who did it: It may be the same group of Russian and Ukrainian hackers suspected in the Target breach late last year.

Who else has been hacked: Target, grocery store chain Supervalu, P.F. Chang's and the thrift-store operations of Goodwill have been the target of hackers in recent months.

The impact of a breach: Target is still trying to recover from its breach. Its sales, profits and reputation with customers were damaged.

The Associated Press

Affected Goodwill stores

Worried your data was stolen while shopping at one of 300 Goodwill stores in 19 states where credit card data was compromised? The list includes 11 Colorado stores. Find the details at goodwill.org/payment-card-notice